Comparing our lives with the lives of others can lead us to envy others’ strengths, successes, fortunes, and lifestyle so much that we begin to resent our own lives, lose our confidence in ourselves and our abilities, see and magnify the things that we lack, and become ungrateful for what we have. When we give in to these feelings, we lose sight of the joys in our own lives. We put our lives on standby and try to live the “perfect life” others are living, allowing ourselves to believe that such a “perfect life” really exists.

If we have fallen prey to this, it may be time to evaluate our desires and goals. Are we living our lives in a way that is pleasing to God? Or are we living it to please other people—a good number of them we barely know? If our lives resonate more with the latter, here are some ways we can claim back our lives from this trap.

Find a role model. Following everyone’s updates and stories on our social media could consume many hours in our day, not to mention that it becomes exhausting when we compare our lives with each of theirs. Find a role model instead—someone we look up to, a person we want to emulate, someone whose values resonate with ours. When we have a role model, we usually do not compare ourselves with them and envy what they have but they become an inspiration to help us further improve ourselves. Once we find a role model, we can assess our current state, our abilities, strengths, and areas we can improve to see how we can progress and become like the person we look up to. Once we see where we can improve, then we roll up our sleeves and go to work. The advantage of finding a role model is that we can spend just a small portion of our day following one or two people and spend the rest on improving ourselves, which is a lot better than spending hours wishing for what others have.

Align our improvement efforts with the Lord. We must not forget that, more than our efforts to become like our role model, our ultimate goal is to become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. On our journey of improving ourselves, we must seek God’s help and guidance because He does not intend for us to improve alone, unless we choose to. God desires for us to continuously improve ourselves. He is happy when He sees us doing our best to become better versions of ourselves every day. When we reach out to Him, He will not only strengthen us but also elevate our efforts to help us reach our goals.

Accept that perfection does not come in this life. Life on Earth is not perfect, nor will it ever be, although sometimes we let ourselves believe that some people seem to have achieved it. But the bottom line is, we all have struggles, they may differ in degrees and forms and it may not be very apparent on social media, but we all have battles we are fighting every day. However, all of us also have moments of joy, blessings to be thankful for, friends and family relationships that we treasure, and most of all, we all have a loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ whose love for us never falters. So let’s celebrate our joys and the joys of others and continuously seek to improve ourselves, keeping in mind that we cannot attain perfection through our efforts alone.

Life is too short to be spent resenting our lives and wishing we had the life others are living. Let’s embrace the life we have been given, find the little joys that each day brings, and celebrate milestones along the way to becoming better.

The post Comparison Is A Thief Of Joy And We Don’t Even Realize It appeared first on morefaith.ph.

In this mortal world, sometimes we fall subject to natural disasters, economic downfall, poverty, wars, death, crimes, or other challenges. With all these challenges, how can we find peace and joy?

The song in the video entitled “The Prayer” and composed by David Foster contains two important principles on how we can find peace and joy in this life.

First Principle: Seek God’s Guidance

I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know

Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.

I pray we’ll find your light
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night
Remind us where you are.

Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe.

The first and second verses of this song focus on asking help from a divine source. In times of troubles and difficulties, God can lead us to a safer, more peaceful ground. He can help us find comfort and will inspire us on how we can deal with life’s challenges. If we pray and ask for His help, He will listen and answer our prayers. He will help us find the light even during the darkest moments of our lives.

God’s greatest gift to each one of us is His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the light and the life of the world (Doctrine & Covenants 11:28). Through His example, we will know how to be truly happy in this life. His message teaches us what to do in order to find happiness in our mortal journey. Through His sacrifice, we are able to feel relief from our burdens. Jesus Christ suffered not only our sins but also our “pains, afflictions and temptations” so He could understand how to help us base on our experiences (Alma 7:11-12). When we sincerely believe that Jesus Christ can support us, we will feel His love and His hands comforting, protecting and guiding us.

Our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ are not physically present here with us but this does not mean that we cannot feel their presence. We can feel Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s love and presence through the Holy Ghost. Before Jesus Christ returned to Heaven, He promised His disciples that the Father will give the Holy Ghost to guide them (John 14:26). The Holy Ghost is given to us to guide us in this life. We can know that we are feeling the Holy Spirit when we have feelings of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23).

Second Principle: Love and Serve Others

A world where pain and sorrow will be ended
And every heart that’s broken will be mended
And we’ll remember we are all God’s children
Reaching out to touch you
Reaching to the sky.

We ask that life be kind
And watch us from above
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love.

The last verses of the song remind us that we are all brothers and sisters. God is our Father and we are His children. He loves each one of us equally. We are God’s hands on the earth. One way God answers our prayers is through other people. When we love one another, we will have genuine peace.

Jesus Christ taught us to love one another. He taught this principle both in Jerusalem and in Ancient America, and the results were wonderful.

“And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.

There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the land (4 Nephi 1:15-18).”

Just like in Ancient America, it is also possible to have peace and joy today when we apply the teachings of Jesus Christ and love one another. One way of showing love to our brothers and sisters is through service. A great leader from the same continent named King Benjamin exhibited this. When he was serving as the King, his greatest desire and motivation was to serve God. Because of this desire, serving other people became natural. He encouraged the people to help each other whether their need was emotional, spiritual or physical.

Now, a few years after the tragic incident in Tacloban, many families are starting to rebuild their lives. Service offered by other people has given them hope to start again. All forms of service whether it was as simple as praying for them, giving donations or building homes for them made them feel loved and comforted.

Our society can have continual joy and peace if we follow God’s commandments to love and serve one another. Through helping each other, our pains and sorrows can be ended. Christ-like love can heal a broken heart, strengthen a person and give light and hope to an uncertain future.

Our lives are full of challenges in different forms. Some challenges come from natural calamities while others from other’s choices. Whatever our troubles may be, there is a way to be happy and have peace in our lives. God will not give us anything that we cannot handle. If we trust Him, we will overcome whatever trials may come our way.

For more information about Tacloban after the typhoon, please see the links below:

2 Years After  Typhoon Yolanda
Tacloban One Year After Typhoon Haiyan
Remebering Yolanda
Shelters Built and Carpenters Certified
Cebu After Typhoon Yolanda

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